RIYADH: Although artificial intelligence has created amazing new opportunities, there is an environmental cost that is often overlooked: water. Although discussions about AI’s energy requirements have made headlines, its enormous and expanding water impact remains largely hidden. Experts caution that there may be significant repercussions from that blind hole.
“We have no universal approach to assess how much water is consumed while using or training AI,” Salah Al-Kafrawi, senior consultant at EY for data and AI, told Arab News, leaving the full scope of the issue unclear.
The majority of companies, from e-commerce to aviation, are unaware of their water consumption, despite a few IT companies releasing approximate water usage figures. According to Al-Kafrawi, “many people aren’t even aware of their water footprint.
Even the data now available likely underestimates reality by a factor of ten or more. AI’s growing hunger is a silent catastrophe that necessitates innovation, transparency, and improved systems in a world where water is becoming increasingly scarce.
AI uses a lot of water. It encompasses both indirect use related to the electricity that runs them and direct use, such as cooling servers. According to Al-Kafrawi, AI requires a substantial amount of data for assessment and training, as well as sufficient power to run and cooling systems to prevent overheating.
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